Chapter 3
Olivia
He thinks I’m going to storm off?
Fine. I’ll stay right where I am. And it’s not because my wolf is howling to run through the forest with him, not because I want to roll in the grass with him, smell his hair, lick his abs... It's because if he says I’m going to do something, then I’m going to do the opposite.
Instead, I skewer him with a contemptuous, accusatory glare. “So, let me get this straight. You will help my brother, and in exchange you want me to stay here and satisfy your lustful desires?”
He arches an eyebrow. “Why? Do you want to stay here and submit to my lustful desires?” He says it with polite interest, as if he’s inquiring after my lunch order.
Yes.
No.
It doesn’t matter what my treacherous libido wants, it doesn’t matter what my wolf wants. What matters is that my brother finds access to his wolf, and I keep my dignity intact.
I narrow my eyes and glare at him. “How dare you? You absolutely obnoxious, unbearable-”
His laugh is rich and warm. “Don’t bother to answer. But no. All you have to do is stay here.”
“Why? And why did you change your mind?”
But the infuriating son of a bitch stands up and walks away again.
This time I don’t follow. I just sit there and watch him vanish into the crowd, and my wolf howls mournfully at his absence.
I slowly drink the rest of my lemonade, struggling to calm myself and focus on anything other than my intense, urgent need for Kieran’s company.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and call my brother.
“Olivia? Where are you?” He sounds puzzled. “I stopped by the Meat Market for lunch and they said you weren’t working.”
The Meat Market is where I’ve been waitressing to supplement my book-binding business, and also to raise money to pay for my brother’s treatment. That kind of specialty treatment costs an ungodly amount of money. So why is Kieran offering it for free now?
“Um, good news!” I chirp brightly.
“Why is your voice going all weird?”
“Your face is weird,” I respond automatically.
“Your butt is weird.” Ah, brothers. “Wait, don’t try to distract me!” he yelps. “What’s happening? Where are you?”
“I am in Cedar Run, Arkansas, on pack property. And the good news is-”
“Olivia! No! You promised!”
“Did I?” I say innocently. I mean, it’s possible that when my brother came slinking back home, devastated, I threatened to travel to Arkansas and rip a certain Alpha’s face off.
And it’s possible that when my brother literally cried and begged me not to, I reluctantly agreed.
But do promises made under duress still count?
“Anyway,” I try to continue.
“Are you in jail? When is the execution scheduled for? Where can we find a lawyer? I don’t know any shifter lawyers.
Can we post bail? No, we’re broker than broke.
Can I come work for the pack for the rest of my life as an indentured servant, so they’ll let you go? ” His voice is rising with every word.
That’s something he and I have in common. When we get hysterical, we tend to babble.
“Stephen! Shut up! They are going to revisit your case again, for free. Literally, for free. And I even get to stay here while they do it, for free.” I’m going to spin my house arrest as a positive thing.
“What? Why? What’s the catch?” Suspicion drips from every word.
Well, the catch is that the Alpha thinks I’m his fated mate, and my hormones are rampaging out of control so he might be right, and I’m supposed to sleep in a house right next to the Alpha’s and maybe the Alpha is going to force me to be his sex slave for payment?
Maybe not? Jury’s still out on that one, but that doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that you tell your baby brother.
“I think they think that this will be valuable for research purposes,” I hedge, because heck, it might even be true.
“I don’t know, Olivia.” I can hear the doubt and fear in his voice. But also the hope.
“Pack your stuff and be here tomorrow. And pack my stuff too. I will be here waiting for you.” We are not going to miss this chance to figure out what’s blocking my brother from shifting.
“Uhh…okay. I’ll pack our stuff. Should take all of about five minutes,” he says ruefully.
He’s not wrong. We both sold every single thing we owned to pay for this treatment. We still have cheap cell phones, and a few outfits, and that’s about it. I even sold my precious book-binding supplies. Book-binding is more of a hobby for me, but it was starting to take off as a business.
Thinking of it makes me ache. I love making books.
And worse, it still wasn’t enough, so we had to take out a loan, which has horrendous interest. When my brother was refused and given his money back, we gave all of it to the loan shark, but we haven’t paid off the interest, which is compounding every day.
Well, that’s a problem for tomorrow Olivia. Today Olivia is going to just be grateful that her brother might finally have a chance at happiness and shifter normalcy.
“See you tomorrow. Call me when you’re about to leave,” I order him.
“Fine, Nagatha Christie.”
I narrow my eyes at the phone, as if he could see me. “Butt-face.”
“Stink-breath.”
“Wait, do I have bad breath?” For some reason the idea of Kieran thinking I have bad breath horrifies me.
“Not that I’ve ever noticed, it’s just something to say. See you tomorrow, and I can’t freaking believe you went there and didn’t get murdered.”
“You sound almost disappointed,” I say drily.
He hangs up.
“Yoo-hoo!” a feminine voice trills, and then the teenage sister of Kieran plops down on the bench where her brother was sitting minutes ago.
Like her brother, she has storm-gray eyes, thick dark brows, and full lips.
She grins at me. “You’re Olivia. I’m Rose. You get under my brother’s skin for some reason. I like you.”
“He’s got that effect on you too, huh?” I say drily.
“Isn’t he the absolute worst?” she groans and rolls her eyes. “He’s a nightmare. A tyrant. A bully. The worst big brother ever.”
“Is he…” I hesitate, afraid to ask. I have to know, though. “Is he honest?”
She snorts in annoyance. “Brutally so. The word tact is not in his dictionary.”
Why does that not surprise me? Because Kieran obviously does not give a hoot about anyone’s feelings.
“If he says he’ll do something, will he do it?” I press her.
“Oh, yeah, he never goes back on his word. Whatever. Who cares. Wait…” She looks at me with interest. “What did he say he’d do?”
“He said that you guys will try to figure out why my younger brother can’t shift.”
“Oh, right, he did say that.” She nods. The mischief in her eyes fades into sympathy. “I’m sorry about that. It must be hard.”
“So he’ll keep his promise that you guys will try?” I can’t keep the anxiety from my voice.
She nods. “If he said he will, he will. He doesn’t change his mind.”
“That’s the thing,” I say, frowning. “He originally sent my brother away, and today he actually did change his mind about it and he says he’ll try to figure out why my brother can’t access his wolf. I’m trying to figure out why.”
Rose chews her lower lip, looking puzzled. “Something must have changed. I don’t know what. But if he says we’ll try, we will, and my older sister is really good. Hey, would you consider sneaking me into town? I’m kind of grounded right now.”
I laugh ruefully. “I really wish I could, but I can’t do anything to risk getting on His Royal Hiney’s bad side.”
“Ha!” she laughs delightedly. “His Royal Hiney! I’m going to use that on him. All right, later, gator. And please give my brother as much grief as possible.”